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[Music]
>>Angie Miller: Elena, our daughter, is four. At four months is when we were actually told
that she had profound hearing loss.
>>John Miller: We knew pretty early on that she was going to be a candidate for cochlear
implants.
>>Angie Miller: You actually start on activation day, which is a few weeks after the surgery
date once things have healed. Just being able to see her respond to a sound, it was a pretty
special day.
>>What happens if you take the implant out?
>>Elena Miller: I can't hear.
>>Angie Miller: Oh, I think we just tell her that God made her special that way, and some
people need glasses to help them see and other people need hearing aids or CIs to help them
hear. She's just a little trooper.
>>John Miller: When you're faced with having a child with profound hearing loss, your world
just kind of...you're shocked and you're devastated and you're going to have this problem your
whole life, how are you going to face it and deal with it. But because of our experience
at the Hospital on all the technology and services, we feel like we just have a normal
child. That gift is priceless.
>>Elena Miller: Head, shoulders, knees and toes. Knees, toes.
[Music]
>>Tiara Jones: I had a normal pregnancy. When he was born, you could look at his eyes and
they were like a robin's-egg-blue color. When he went to the NICU, they didn't know what
was going on because he had a lot of different issues other than just the vision.
>>Max was four years old when we were able to get his cochlear implant, and the day that
they turned him on, he was asleep in the wagon at Children's, and they turned on his CI,
he sat straight up in the wagon and busted out laughing, so I knew that I made the right
decision. "He can hear! He likes it!"
>>"I'm coming to see you, Mommy!"
>>[Music]
>>Vanessa Simmons: Justin was just a very busy little boy. We started noticing pretty
early, though, that he slept through everything. That kind of gave us a clue, so we immediately
started the process of getting him tested and found out that he did have a profound
hearing loss.
And two years later when Jas was born, she was tested also. We were watching "60 Minutes"
one night. That was our first introduction to cochlear implants. Both children were implanted
at Children's.
>>Julian Simmons: And it was just amazing how their eyes was open, wide open, when they
heard their first sound.
>>Vanessa Simmons: Yeah, both kids were mainstream. Both kids had been honor students and did
very well academically.
>>Jasmine Simmons: It was tough. They would whisper, "Jasmine," and I was like...and then
they would laugh, so it was challenging.
Strive for the best. Let the challenges make you stronger. Don't let them bring you down.
I have been accepted to University of Akron and I am planning to major in Speech Pathology
and Audiology. I would tell other parents to have their kids strive for the best and
don't put low expectations for them.
>>Vanessa Simmons: Justin is at RIT. He started, he's a freshman this year.
>>Julian Simmons: They are amazing kids. It's tough to see them go through it, but it made
them a lot stronger.
>>[Music]
>>Tiara Jones: You're not the only one fighting for your child. The whole hospital is fighting
for your child, too. I really appreciate Nationwide Children's Hospital. It has changed my life
and my son's life, and that is the best blessing ever.
>>[Music]
>>Vanessa Simmons: Thank you for helping us to give our children the future that we know
that is going to be fantastic for them.
>>Julian Simmons: Yes.
>>Angie Miller: Thank you. Yeah.
>>[Music]